Home Education Council of America

(Website review)

HECOA has just completed another wonderful Not Back to School Summit. If you are not a homeschooler, don't be deterred by the title. Parents, Grandparents, Educators of all sorts, Pastors, Children's Ministry workers, anyone who works with and relates to children should listen to these wonderful presentations. 

Unfortunately the weeks of free listening are over. But for a relatively small price you can become a member who has access to the recorded presentations from this year as well as hundreds more in the archives. It's like attending a conference (or two or three or more), only from the comfort of your sofa.

No children, food and drinks to carry with you. Restroom is handy. Hit the pause button when you need to leave and the speaker is waiting for you when you come back. Your spouse can hear the same thing you heard as he/she sits by your side or they can replay it later on their own time.

There is so much good teaching in these webinars. How to inspire your children to become lifelong learners. How to stop the self bullying that goes on between your ears. How to teach math the fun way with games. What is the best way to prepare academically for the coming economy? What is my or my child's/student's learning style? And so much more.

This is the third or fourth year I've "attended" these webinars. As a basic member I can listen for free during the live presentation and/or catch the 24 hr replay. This year they also streamed live on Facebook for the first time.

As a basic (free) member you also have access to HECOA's Toolbox which is full of teaching on how to teach subjects by mastery rather than being tied to a curriculum. People think I've gone off the deep end when I say I don't use a curriculum. Which statement is probably not totally accurate because anything you do becomes your curriculum. But mine isn't out of a box, or by a certain company. 

Why would anyone else know what my sons and I want to study? If we have to finish X amount of subjects daily in X amount of books we may never get to the things we are truly passionate about. This is what many homeschoolers discover as they first try to recreate the classroom at home and then realize what a nightmare that becomes.

KISS- Keep It Simple Silly. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

Jen, one of the team at HECOA, says not being able to afford a curriculum for your homeschool is one of the best things that can happen to you. Dianne McLean, founder of HECOA, says you can look around you and pick up any object and create lessons from it. Math, History, Science, etc.

These are the things you learn when you step outside the box. 

Ready to become a member of HECOA and learn how to find freedom in YOUR home/school? There will be the Homeschool Bootcamp in the spring and the Not Back to School Summit again next fall, Lord Willing.

And....What is your passion?

Inspiration

There are different ways to receive inspiration. My inspiration comes from a young mother of seven who has begun to blog daily. If she can, I can too!

That brings back memories of the little one room school I attended as a little Amish Mennonite girl. There were two "big boys" in school. One shorter and very athletic. The other taller, more gangling and uncoordinated. If the shorter one accomplished a high jump for instance, the taller one would say, "If you can, I can too!" He couldn't always but his attitude was priceless.

Now that we've started "school", I spend time reading, studying and writing as I require the boys to do. We are trying to implement the Thomas Jefferson model of learning which says "Inspire, not require. But not neglect." It is very different from the "conveyor belt" model we grew up with so I am studying that as much as I can, trying to internalize the ideas. It is a more interest based way of learning.

Our studies begin with reading a Bible story together. This morning it was Genesis 6. The story of Noah finding grace in God's eyes and believing God when He said it's necessary to "evacuate". How believable was it that a storm of global proportions was coming? God can always, always be trusted. Why do we doubt His words?

Next we read a classic book aloud. The Little House in the Big Woods is the one we're in right now. Or as my somewhat dyslexic brain wants to word it The Big House in the Little Woods. I laughed so hard at myself after I did that. The mind picture... 

What constitutes a "classic"? A book that you get more from, each time you read it. It contains lessons and principles that don't change. The Bible is our greatest classic. Some educators say nature is God's great classic. Get outdoors and learn the many lessons He has for you.

In our story this morning we read The Story of Grandpa and the Panther. As we read how Pa screamed like a panther for Laura and Mary, we wondered what it actually sounds like. YouTube furnished us with an example that was spine tingling.

Melvin went on to practice his math facts at Xtra Math.Christopher did some writing and then math practice at Khan Academy. He is also studying different motor bikes and recording the specs. The boys' interests are so varied.

Melvin is reading The Incredible Journey. Christopher has a number of books in progress. Ender's Game, The Light Princess, Bruchko, and I'm sure there are others. He is an avid reader.

This book assumes you have a basic knowledge
of numbers and know your math facts.

We don't stress workbook types of math until they're good and ready. Researchers tell me that all the math we traditionally labor to teach children in the first 6-7 years of school is unnecessary. They are able to learn it all in one year of study once they go through puberty. This is because their brains take on the ability to comprehend abstract thoughts during this time. As one instructor says, "Don't teach algebra until they have hair under their arms." Just save most of it until then really.

Book used in 7th or 8th grade
Copyright 1960
(When people were smart)

All the time we spend drilling, drilling, drilling only results in creating a hatred or fear of math because it is so hard at a young age. Sure play number games. Do fun things with math. Study the Fibonacci sequence. Use recipes or building projects to learn about fractions, measuring and etc. Use numbers in real life situations. All. The. Time. Workbooks? Never. Until 7th or 8th grade. New ideas? No. It's the old truth revived.

Did you grow up during a time when schools taught in a smart way?

Have you heard of the Thomas Jefferson (or TJEd) model?

Back to School Prep and No Boredom Regimen

A moth found on the patio. What kind is it? It flapped onto an overturned camping chair. Hence the frayed label..

Okay, so I'm a home educator- a tutor if you will. One of those people you hire for your children and which mine are privileged to have at all times. Definition of tutor- a private teacher, typically one who teaches a single student or a very small group. 

So... I'm no smarter than you, I've just decided to give my sons individualized attention rather than putting them on the educational conveyor belt. You can be a home educator though and not be a tutor. This happens when you try to recreate school at home. You just make the children do all the workbooks in every subject. If they can fill in the blanks and pass the tests, you are content.

But have you thought about it that for your child's calling in life he/she may need something outside the books? Gasp!

Your child may not need a diploma? Gasp again! How dare I suggest such a thing?

The Thrifty Couple sent a post out the other day about how to prepare your child to get back into the swing of school. They gave a couple of website suggestions that your child can use to start getting their brains back into school mode. 

My first feeling was horror. You will put children on devices to get them ready to be doing the academics again?! Then I decided to write my own post about how to get children ready to go back to school.

This proves a bit difficult because I have been out of the classroom for so long and my view of education is very different from the classroom. So my advice may or may not fit the child going back into the classroom. I want to think it will apply across the board.

Whatever you do, GET OFF THE SCREENS!!! Yes, I'm yelling. Did you hear me? 

Screens kill. They kill imagination. They kill desire to learn. They kill motivation to work with your hands. They kill ability to relate to people. They might even kill your soul depending where you go.

(So why do I tell you this on a screen? Good question. There is good in everything. Tell me if I'm wrong.)

The children I teach at Kid's Club every Tuesday evening are nearly all from conventional schools. During summer vacation, when I ask, "What did you do today? the response is, "Nothing". Or maybe it's, "I stayed in my room all day". Or, "I was chatting with my online friends". They have nothing profitable to do. And though I call them children, by the standards of a hundred years ago or more they are adults or about to be (ages 11-14). (Read the book Do Hard Things.)

Get your children outside. Give them work to do. Don't do all the work yourself. Work together where you can. When they are old enough to have the skills and have developed physically to where they are capable, give them responsibilities they can claim as their own. 

If you don't have a farm, give your child(ren) the opportunity to stay with friends or family at their farm for a week or two. They will see what work is. (Yes, you may send them my way.)

You have no opportunity to do this? Then find a place to walk; and walk daily: in a park, along a country road, in your back woods, down the sidewalk. Wonder at creation. What kind of tree is that? I wonder what bird made that call? What is that flower? Is this plant edible, I wonder?

Oh! What kind of dog is that barking at us? Is that a Siamese cat on the porch? Why does grass grow in the cracks of the pavement in some places and not in others? Look at those interesting clouds overhead. What kind are they? Will they bring rain?

Ugh! There's a spider! Oh, but what kind is it? (If you haven't jumped on top of the picnic table.) And that butterfly passing by. What lovely colors! Do you know what it is? What does it's caterpillar look like? It's cocoon? Will it migrate?

Alright. You get the idea. Ask lots of questions that will arouse curiosity. Maybe your last stop can be the library where you can check out a bunch of books to help answer these questions.

To pique your own curiosity. Tell me what you see in these photos..

Challenge your children to read lots of good books. Not a bunch of silly stuff. Books that will make them think. Give them a list of different genres to choose from. History. Science. Fiction. Math (story type book). Biography. DIY or craft. Poetry. Have them choose one of each and when they have read them, done a project out of one and can give you a good (oral) report of each book, treat them in some way.

For starters, read Gifted Hands by Ben Carson for some amazing inspiration. Read it aloud as a family. Or read it to yourself. Just read it.

Make sure your children get exercise and sunshine. They need at least 15 minutes of sun a day to build their Vit D levels. Can you find a bicycle for your child to ride? This provides practice in balancing, develops good leg muscles and involuntarily gets them outdoors. But just a good hike is great.

Other options- Take them fishing. Swimming. To the park to swing and slide. Allow them to climb trees. Play basketball (yes, mother, you too!). Pitch a softball for the child to hit with a bat. Or a tennis ball if the harder kind frightens you.

Oh, the list of things to do is endless. And my sons and I would just love to have help with canning green beans or pealing peaches for the freezer, getting corn husked, cooked, and cut off to freeze, making pickles or any of the myriad things that need to be done when you grow your own food. Maybe you can help someone like us, near you.

Otherwise, find a farmers' market, international food store or just the grocery store to take your children to. Find out what the different foods are and try something new. Be sure to ask the vendor at the farmers' market for a recipe. If you've bought something strange and new from the grocery store, try Google for a recipe.

After doing some guided activities together, allow them to do things on their own. Allow them to do dangerous things. Especially boys. They are born to be wild. To conquer. Give them that liberty. Within reason, of course. Having five sons myself, my mantra is, Pray a lot and don't watch.

My friend had a post on her blog this summer about how to keep your children from getting bored. Honestly, that is not a problem at our house and, in my opinion, it is fostered by the conveyor belt schools we send our children to.

Their lives are constantly mapped out for them, nine months of the year. Where is their time to think? To explore? To be?

If they are constantly told what to learn, their imaginations are stifled and they don't learn how to think for themselves. They constantly have to think, "What is the book (or teacher, parent) wanting me to think? How can I get the right answer?" This method of teaching makes good factory workers. Great soldiers. Compliant citizens. But entrepreneurs? Hardly.

Get your children off screens today and out and about doing good. Their minds will develop far better and be more prepared for those academic challenges in a few weeks. 

You can find a couple sheets of "random acts of kindness" ideas in this free download "The Ultimate Homeschool Printable Collection".  Have fun reaching out to others.

And for your information, life around here is not as glamorous as the above picture (walks, etc). That was born out of the necessity to think what could be done if you didn't have our farm workload. 

Life at our house is laundry, dishes, cooking breakfast, cleaning off surfaces, baking, feeding calves, laundry, dishes, cooking lunch, cleaning the toilets, canning, milking the cow, chasing the stray cattle back where they belong, laundry, dishes, cooking supper, cleaning the floors, weeding the garden, feeding the dog and cats, mowing the lawn, laundry, dishes, cooking for the fellowship meal, cleaning the windows, attending meetings, planning menus, shopping, repeat and repeat. 

And me, myself and I find time in between all that to nurture my love of reading and writing. The boys find time to carve, read, play basketball, build log cabins, create hydrocycles (as they call the contraption), go fishing, track deer. Thankfully I don't have to tell them what to do. Beyond the normal work, that is. They don't much like me for that. They'd rather be thinking their own thoughts and doing their own things. Oh, but so would I. All those other things are "necessary evils" that weigh me down. 

And FYI, a commitment to home educating your children will definitely help that summer boredom issue. You don't even get to have a half a thought about the relief you can have by sending them off to school. You are together 24/7/365 and beyond. They and you grow together as God intended. 

Best wishes as you prepare to go back to the academic things in life and work to keep the boredom at bay.

"The more I learn, the more I learn, the more I have to learn."

.. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, ... for God was with him. Acts 10:38

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who... took upon him the form of a servant.Philippians 2:5-7